Railway leaders should “think afresh” about outsourcing contracts and try to run services better, the rail minister has said, as union research indicated six major private suppliers made £150m in profits last year. Rail unions are campaigning to end the widespread outsourcing of jobs such as cleaning, security and catering, arguing that staff employed by third-party companies have worse conditions and that profits could be reinvested in the railway. One of the companies, Carlisle Support Services, is ultimately owned by the former peer, Tory donor and tax exile Michael Ashcroft. Labour promised to bring in “the biggest wave of insourcing of public services in a generation” before the 2024 election. Eddie Dempsey, general secretary, said: “Outsourcing on the railway is a racket that needs to be brought to an end by a comprehensive programme of insourcing.

Source: The Guardian January 02, 2026 15:00 UTC